Jingthing

I'm having this bad experience selecting forums. Others here have reported the same usability problem. You say it "works" for you. Great. You aren't everyone. If a number of people are experiencing the same issues as me, the design could be improved.

Thank you. Perhaps they should have done formal usability QA tests watching actual users opening new topics.

This isn't a technical issue. Its a usability design issue. I'll repost this: Here is an example Suppose you know you want to post a new topic in Home Country Forum or Farang Pub. You peruse the top level headings of the pick list. Where might these be under? Thailand General Chat? Thailand Local Forums? Thailand Extra Forums? Quite often its a real chore to locate your specific choice on the pick list. I think it would be much more usable to show a complete expanded list perhaps with the top level headings emphasized.

What's getting me is the lack of perception that this is a real usability problem.

Nobody is going to rent an 800 dollar apartment to someone with no recent rental history and a typical aversge social security check currently 1430.

Thank you! I'm sure there are many others experiencing this as very poor design and I'm also sure many people just give up on starting new topics that they otherwise would have started.

Well again that's how I used to do but it no longer works. If it gives you entertainment to insult me about this please enjoy yourself.

Egads. It wasn't a rant. The problem was explained. It's a legitimate usability complaint. That the pick list is very much not intuitive. But it's fair to request an example. Here is an example Suppose you know you want to post a new topic in Home Country Forum or Farang Pub. You peruse the top level headings of the pick list. Where might these be under? Thailand General Chat? Thailand Local Forums? Thailand Extra Forums? Quite often its a real chore to locate your specific choice on the pick list. I think it would be much more usable to show a complete expanded list perhaps with the top level headings emphasized.

I know that. This is getting frustrating. Maybe reread the OP.

Yeah that's good for you but this topic is really about expats that don't have any US housing to go back to.

It appears that you have misunderstood my actual complaint. It's not that I can't start topics. I can start topics. But to do so I always get that pick list and that pick list's design is often very poor as far as actually getting to the subforum you want.

Well it's a work in progress. I'm not sure I'm actually going to manage to get enrolled in Part B before the IEP deadline. Especially if I have to resort to the black email hole of Manila FBU.

OK, this is a specific situation but it may be relevant to other people. If you've made an early social security claim (before age 65), you will AUTOMATICALLY be signed up for Medicare Part A (if you qualify). If you have a MySSA account it will show you as enrolled. If you use a U.S. address for social security I think you also will be automatically enrolled in Part B, although you can opt out because there is a cost (taken out of your social security check). However, you will not be automatically enrolled in Part B if you use a non-U.S. address and that is the crux of the issue in this topic. The reason to pay for Part B as an expat is to avoid the 10 percent penalty per year for life for the time you didn't pay for it if you repatriate. This topic isn't about the often hard decision about whether to enroll in Part B or not (you might plan to be an expat for life but you never really know). Other Medicare part enrollments are irrelevant to expats with a foreign address (sign up upon repatriation). This period around your 65th birthday is called the INITIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD. If you enroll for Part B later, it's called a SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD. IEP and SEP. The INITIAL period is three months before your birthday and three months after. For example birthday September 15, the actual deadline is December 31, not December 15. Social Security (NOT Medicare) is involved in enrollment for Parts A and B. Medicare is involved in the other parts. This is my current situation. Early social security claim Thai address Automatically enrolled in Part A My social security card and package never arrived at my Thai address so I didn't even have my Medicare Card Number (11 digits). I've read elsewhere that they don't send the package abroad but I was at least expecting the card (with the number). Nope. So I logged onto my MySSA account and it showed me enrolled in Part A only (but advised that that should be further verified). So I called this Medicare number to verify that I was definitely enrolled in Part A and hoping to get my Medicare Number. With your Medicare Number you can open an online Medicare account, but I was told that you CAN'T enroll in Part B online on the Medicare site because Parts A and B enrollments are done by Social Security. 1-800-633-4227 MEDICARE They were very helpful and easily without pulling teeth verified that I was definitely enrolled in Part A and I was even able to get my Medicare Number read to me over the phone. Of course if you were in the U.S. you would want the actual physical card which can be requested via Medicare or Social Security. So far, so good. As I was told that I MUST go through Social Security (not Medicare) to enroll in Part B, I called this number. 410-965-0160 Social Security International Service 9:00am and 4:00pm Eastern U.S time Called it several times with the message call back later and not even put in a call queue! There is an 800 number meant for people living in the U.S. but I haven't tried that yet as I doubt they're geared to an expat issue like this. 1-800-772-1213 Social Security You see, the problem here is that the information you're going to find online about this is NOT about enrolling in Part B during INITIAL enrollment, but rather about special enrollments later. There is form referred to that doesn't support foreign addresses and instructions with it usually say you need to file an additional form regarding your employment situation (presumably to try to avoid the penalty of late sign up because if you qualify under certain insurance conditions you are exempt). CMS40B - Application for Enrollment in Part B | CMS I'm not sure what to do with that form as an expat trying to enroll in Part B during INITIAL enrollment. Notice it does support people that live specifically in the colony of Puerto Rico but appears to explicitly exclude expats. So what to do? I'll keep trying to call the international number but it doesn't sound promising. Other than that, there is always the dreaded Manila FBU, but I'm very hesitant to go there. Like many, I've found the service wanting. I perhaps recall a member here saying they could sign up for Medicare Part B online from their online Medicare account (Medicare number needed to create) but I was told very strongly by a Medicare rep that that is not true. If any brave, generous, or masochistic soul, has made it this far, can you offer any advice? In a way I'm finding this darkly funny. I want to pay the government money for something I can't use while living abroad, but they seem to making this very hard!

Thank you for trying to help but I must say now that the plot thickens. Yes, that's how I USED to open topics, directly from the subforums that I wanted to start new threads in. But for me at least, this NO LONGER works! Edge Browser on Windows 10 and Chrome browser on Android phone. Attempting to directly start threads from either the top level WITHIN a subforum or from within a specific thread WITHIN a forum brings me to that exact same totally hellish user unfriendly pick list. Again, maybe this is user error. But if it's user error for me, surely there must be many others. Others have complained the forum is stale. Have you considered that part of the reason might be this TECHNICAL issue, suppressing new threads in this way?

I reckon the unusual situation with the masses of Haitians is extraordinary and the current U.S. president has decided dealing with it justified extraordinary measures. Citizens can support that move or not but to talk about that is indeed political.

I'm trying to understand why you think that is relevant to my complaint. Doesn't EITHER start point get you to the exact same list that I talked about? The issue isn't about how to navigate to start, but how difficult it is to select the exact subforum category you need. Could be I'm missing something. If so, please try to explain. If not, my characterization of this as a serious design flaw stands.

China.

Will they recall their Ambassador?

I'm not sure exactly when this negative change went into effect but as a high volume poster I feel that I can speak with authority on this matter. Forum designers should strive to make it easier and more intuitive to start new threads. Not harder. Certainly not much harder. Don't believe me? Test a start of a new thread. First you must choose the category. Notice that most of the categories are not shown in the top level list and if you have a specific category in mind it's not at all intuitive which top level category to click to find it. It's my strong opinion that this very user unfriendly design is having two negative effects. Mainly and most importantly suppression of many new topics because it's just too difficult now to start a new thread because of how hard it is now to pick the category. Also people posting in the wrong forum and requiring correction.

Yeah not the cheapest but not bad either.

They come in a well sealed bag. Once opened I store the whole beans in a purpose designed stainless steel coffee container. I don’t refrigerator or freeze so no opinion on that. You're not going to get the optimal from pre ground beans though.

Well these beans are freshly roasted and green beans last a very long time so I really don't think so.

I wonder how this works as a long term business tactic assuming a vendor has an excellent product. So a big sale means more people are exposed to it for the first time. But whats the conversion rate of people actually willing to pay the regular price? Personally I'll probably just buy it for special times.

I reckon some do and some don't. I've personally met some massively wealthy people are some of them are surprisingly frugal. They may spend a lot on some things but they still demand good value.

Lured by a 2 for 1 promotion I bought some Aroi Special.AA+ beans (whole bean, medium roast) from Aroi Coffee in Chiang Mai. Shipped promptly. Ground at home coarse with a burr grinder and brewed in a French press. OMG. So good! I'm spoiled now. Their normal price are more than I like to pay for beans though. Anyway this is presumably a time limited offer. https://aroi-thailand.com/product/aroi-special-coffee-aa/ I have no association with this business.